A Western RPG that changed gamers' lives forever

By the mid-90s PC gamers tended to lean toward FPS and Strategy games. A lot of gamers I have fond memories of Jedi Knight, Quake 1 and 2, Doom, Age of Empires, Tomb Raider 2, Warcraft 2, Total Annihilation, and the the list goes on and on. But there was one RPG that changed gamers' lives forever and opened doors for games like Mass Effect.